Ange: Spurs form unacceptable, it needs to change

Ange Postecoglou blasted his Tottenham team following their derby day defeat to Arsenal, calling their performance and recent form as “unacceptable”.

Postecoglou’s side barely threatened in the 2-1 defeat, with Pedro Porro’s stoppage-time shot off the post from an impossible angle the closest they came to a second-half response when supposedly chasing the game.

Spurs remain in 13th with just one league win – against 20th-placed Southampton – since beating Manchester City in November, while Arsenal have an eye on the title. Postecoglou’s team are just eight points above the relegation zone.

They next face Everton, themselves trying to avoid a relegation battle, on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.

When asked to give his view of the performance, Postecoglou said: “Not good enough, especially the first half which was way too passive. We allowed Arsenal to take control. I was disappointed with us with and without the ball, allowing them to dictate the tempo. Nowhere near good enough.

“That’s not who we are. That’s not how I set the team up to play. To be sitting in and allowing Arsenal to play just wasn’t good enough.

“There’s no magic cure. We need to work hard and go into battle on Sunday and turnaround our fortunes and our season. There are always reasons why things happen but the reality is our results and form in the league has been nowhere near good enough. That needs to change.

“We just didn’t play near the identity of what I want us to be. We’re an aggressive team with and without the ball – we showed that against Liverpool but tonight we were way too passive. That’s not acceptable. Second half was a little better but it wasn’t enough.

“This can’t be accepted by anyone at the club, us losing so many games in a league season isn’t right. Yes we are asking big jobs but I hope the 18-year-olds [Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall] are hurting as much as anyone else in terms of not being able to deliver on a big day.”

Arteta praises ‘intense’ performance

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta speaking to TNT:

“The boys were outstanding. We played 120 minutes less than 72 hours ago, but the way we performed was exceptional.

“We made it hard for ourselves, but the attitude was outstanding. The purpose and intensity was really good.

“We play every three days, so it’s just a foundation, it’s about the next day now. We won today, great, but now it’s about Aston Villa. My confidence comes from what I see every day, not just results. Sometimes in football you don’t get what you deserve.

“We cannot feel sorry for ourselves. What we can control is performance, and today they have done it again.”

On the possibility of reinforcements in January, Arteta added: “Yes, for sure. We’ve lost two big players with Gabi [Jesus] and Bukayo [Saka]. We’re going to try, we’re actively looking. We have lost two very important players. We will try but let’s see what we can get.”